Safeguard
by InkFingerTips6
Summary: After the events in Betrayed, Raven is struggling to not only survive the prophecy that has begun but also to cope with her love for Robin that she herself has locked away. But will the bond that they share bring back those memories?
1. Chapter 1

It had been close to four months since Raven and Robin had spoken of the bond that was formed between them. One hundred and twenty days since the interaction had occurred within the gym. Two thousand eight hundred and eighty hours that Raven still loved her leader, they said that time was supposed to heal all wounds. They were full of shit.

She watched Robin and Starfire begin to grow closer. Jealousy and relief constantly fought in her head to the point that she couldn't stand to visit Nevermore.

Most of the time she stayed in her room.

If she desired social interaction she would help Cyborg work on the T-Car; his terrible music blared so loudly and her focus on one task allowed her to block out the voices of her emotions in her head. It became a sanctuary of sorts.

If she wanted to torture herself she would once in a blue moon allow Starfire to drag her to the mall. It served as a punishment for the times that she found herself wallowing over Robin more than usual. Sometimes those torture methods worked; others made her hate Starfire for her beauty, charm, and consistent chatter about the Boy Wonder.

Beast Boy still annoyed the hell out of her. Although sometimes his jokes were funny. But she delighted in the simplicity of Beast Boy; the animal like way that he thought and felt his emotions. Loyalty, compassion, anger, sadness. They were there, they were simple, they were a relief.

Try as she might she still couldn't escape Robin. Their schedules always seemed to coincide; his from a caffeine induced obsession, hers from nightmares and good books. Late nights and early they managed to have a conversation in Romanian, others they exchanged simple hellos. She still loved their conversations, even though his smile and laughter were contagious.

The worst was when she had to heal him which was a frequent occurrence because of how reckless the Traffic Light was. She never preformed skin to skin contact anymore, which was less effective but a necessary evil. The seals of his memories were broken, and she couldn't risk another event like what had happened in the gym to happen again.

For once luck was on her side, Robin took her warning to heart, although she could feel him watching her more than usual. And now it seemed as if every time she had a nightmare, he would knock on her door. Trying to get her to let him in.

 _'"_ _I can feel your nightmares. I can see things in shadows; smoke, fire, a demon. Please Raven."'_ he said, his voice always muffled but she could still feel the hope, sadness, and care radiating from her friend.

Occasionally she would open the door. Most of the time she would leave it closed, pretending not to hear him until he let his frustration get the best of him and storm away.

They only talked about the Bond once after their confrontation in the gym. He had awkwardly approached her. _'"I know that you saw things"'_

 _'"_ _All of your secrets are safe with me. So are Batman's."'_

 _'"_ _Thank you."'_

Now, Raven sat on her bed and stared angrily at the clock in her hands "Only six more hours." she said aloud. The hours until her birthday were ticking by and Raven was scared, she knew the prophecy, the same one that the monks of Azrath and Zantanna had foretold. She knew it by heart. She sighed and set the clock down on her bed when a sudden knock on her door caused her to jump.

She opened the door only to find the dark hallway abandoned. Suspicion and curiosity got the best of her and she walked down the moonlit hallway to the living room. She looked around hesitantly before the lights came on and her team yelled "Surprise!"

She almost screamed and saw the banner and balloons hanging from the ceiling. The team must've noticed her face go from surprised to angry and Starfire was the first to speak "What is wrong, Raven? We only wish to celebrate the day of your birth."

"I told you a surprise party was a bad idea." Robin stated as he turned his attention to the green changling beside him.

Raven's dark powers began engulfing the grass stain, and Beast Boy let out a small yell.

"How did you know today was my birthday?" Raven demanded.

"Remember how you made a big deal last night about today? I did some snooping and I kinda found a restricted file. And it had all the information on you! Although it wasn't very much, you and Robin have next to nothing in the files."

Now it was Robin's turn to glare at Beast Boy.

"And we have been preparing for the celebration ever since!" Starfire interrupted.

"We put up tons of decorations!" Beast Boy stated as he gestured at the decorations that the team had put up, encouraged by Starfire's oblivious happiness.

"And I made my famous seven layer cake with three kinds of frosting!" Cyborg exclaimed as he help up an enormous cake with indeed three different types of cake and three different colors of frosting although the green frosting made Raven bit nervous.

"And I have prepared for you the Traditional Tamaranian crown of meat!" Starfire sang as she held the crown out to Raven hopefully.

Raven took a step back, unable to hide her anger and disappointment. Then mentally winced because she knew that Robin could feel it through their bond.

"I hope this is okay?" Robin asked as he stepped forward.

"No it's not." Raven replied. "I really appreciate what you are trying to do, but I am not interested." she turned away from her friends and began to walk out of the living room towards her bedroom.

Starfire immediately blocked her path, "But there will be dancing, and the ice cream, and a strange game that includes pins and the tail of a donkey.

"We even got a piñata shaped like Beast Boy, don't tell me you really don't want to give it a good smack." Cyborg also blocked her path.

"I said no." Raven stated her voice getting angrier.

She felt Robin behind her, obviously preparing to calm her down. She almost let him until Beast Boy cut in front of him mentioning how important and fun it would be to celebrate her birthday.

"No!" she screamed and her powers immediately got the best of her; destroying all the decorations, plates, tables and chairs surrounding her. Even the Beast Boy piñata, which she could hear her inner demon chuckling in the background.

She saw the terrified and sad expressions on her teammates faces and before anyone could say anything, Raven turned and walked out the door quickly, pulling her hood up in the process. Behind her she could hear Beast Boy muttering something about a party being a bad idea.

She could feel Robin following her and chose to ignore it. But the Boy Blunder soon caught up to her "Raven what's wrong?" he demanded.

"I just don't like parties." she stated as she paused.

"It's more than that. I can tell, we have a bond remember?"

 _Of course I remember, idiot. I am the one who placed it there._ she thought to herself.

"You've been inside my mind, let me inside yours.

"Absofuckinglutely not." Raven replied.

"Let me help you." he begged.

"No."

"We know each other, we trust each other with our deepest secrets." he tried.

Raven sighed. "I know. But this one…it won't be a secret for long." she phased through the floor before Robin could stop her and reappeared in her bedroom. Her clock sat on her bed mockingly and with a sigh, she picked it up and continued to glare at it.

Robin knocked on her door again and again before sighing and walking away. What was she hiding from him? What did she mean when she said that this secret wouldn't be a secret for long. He thought back to the day that he had seen the brands on her skin, _It has to be something to do with that_ said his inner detective. He paused and wracked his brain for any type of clue about Raven that he had. _She was from another dimension, she was half demon, she was mysterious, intelligent, selfless (almost annoyingly so), quiet. Beautiful in an exotic way._ His thoughts went in every direction as he tried to think

Then he remembered. "She tried to join the Justice League." he said aloud as he pounded his fist into his open palm, proud of himself for remembering.

 _He had received a call from Batman, the day that he submitted the paperwork to the Justice League about his new team. Batman was always the first to know things. The call came in less than an hour after._

 _"_ _You have an interesting set of teammates." his former mentor stated. "An alien, a half man half robot, a changling, and a half demon_ "

 _Robin nodded suspiciously hearing the hesitation in Bruce's tone. "What?" he demanded._

 _"_ _Raven. She applied to the Justice League a few days after she came to Earth." Batman explained._

 _"_ _Why did you deny her? She is an amazing fighter and private like you. It seems that the two of you would get along swimmingly. You both even have a thing for long dark cloaks."_

 _"_ _We denied her entry because she is dangerous."_

 _"_ _She is a meta-human like the rest of my team. Of course she has potential to be dangerous. Starfire destroyed an entire city block before Raven helped us stop her. Beast Boy can transform into any animal, including the extinct ones. He could easily go Jurassic Park on our asses."_

 _"_ _Raven is a liability. A big one. Demons are dangerous. Half breeds even more so, they don't know their potential or the damage that can be inflicted. Zantanna had a vision about her. She has been labeled a threat."_

 _"_ _How?"_

 _"_ _It's classified."_

 _Robin rolled his eyes, getting irritated. He could tell that Batman was questioning his protege's decision making skills._

 _"_ _You need to report to us any changes. Any threats. You will keep an eye on her._

Robin sighed. He sat back in his chair and glared at the file he had pulled up on Raven. To his annoyance, Beast Boy had been right there was almost no information on Raven to report. Just the basics and a few of his own observations

Name: Rachel Roth

Age: 16

DOB: October 13

Height: 5'4"

Weight: 108 pounds

Place of Birth: Azrath

He looked over her file again and again and again, hoping that there was something that he had missed. Anything that would give him a clue as to why Raven was not invited into the Justice League as well as why Batman and the rest of the League were afraid of her.

Her scream broke him from his thoughts.

He ran of his room and used the over ride code to force her door open. "I heard you scream!" he cried out.

Raven sat on her bed; drenched in sweat with her eyes wide in panic. He could feel her emotions through their bond and almost smell the smoke in the air.

"Raven?" he asked again softly as he approached her, he had his hands raised in a surrender pose as if he were approaching a caged animal.

She looked at him her breathing still hard.

He kneeled down beside her bed and gently took her cool hand in his own, he found himself liking the way that their two hands fit together.

She winced at the contact but allowed him to hold her hand.

"You're safe. In the tower. What happened?" he asked.

Before the dark beauty could answer the alarm blared. She looked at him "Trouble." she sounded relieved.


	2. Chapter 2

Robin stopped and felt his body go rigged with fear. He was only vaguely aware of Beast Boy running into his back, the only reason why he was able to speak. But only one pathetic word managed to escape "No."

"It's been a long time, hasn't it Titans. A month, a year, a millennium? Far too long for my tastes anyway. I was beginning to think I would never get to see your smiling faces again." The owner of the voice that still plagued his dreams lounged atop a balcony overlooking the factory.

"How did you survive?" Cyborg demanded.

"Terra took you down, way down!" Beast Boy cried out.

"I don't know where you've been, but you shouldn't have come back. I'm still ready" Robin stated as he clenched his fists. The Boy Wonder had been training for this, somewhere in the back of his mind he always knew, in a twisted way maybe even hoped that Slade would return. This man was his nemesis; the last test.

A red mark appeared on Slade's forehead almost mockingly as a response. "That's cute Robin, but I didn't come for you." Robin almost let his guard down. Almost. _If he isn't here for me. Then who is he here for?_ he thought to himself.

A tunnel of fire tore through the team, and Robin quickly dodged out of the way. Starfire caught him and tugged him into the air, her deceptively gentle alien strength a reassuring harness as she carried Robin away from the danger. The team quickly regrouped a few hundred feet away from Slade.

"Don't you ever get those days, when you're just happy to be alive?" Slade sing-songed his hands became balls of fire and he leapt gracefully from the balcony down to the ground, signaling his eagerness to fight.

"Dude, since when can he do that?" Cyborg demanded.

"I don't know. But he won't be doing it for long. Titans Go!" Robin cried as he and his teammates got into battle formation and charged at Slade.

Cyborg and Starfire charged first; firing sonic cannons and starbolts at Slade only to have them extinguished by a wall of fire that Slade created as a barrier.

Robin leapt into the air, ice discs between each finger as he attempted to throw them over the wall and hit Slade who was now standing on the railing of the balcony.

The ice froze the villain in his typical mocking stance; arms crossed, feet shoulder width apart, head tilted down in contempt. At first Robin thought he'd done it, but the ice quickly melted and Slade was once again free.

Robin watched Raven throw icicle after icicle at Slade, only to have him dodge every time. The same happened when Beast boy charged as a giant gorilla. Starfire soon gave chase hurling starbolts at Slade. The villain turned and with his hands of fire, caught Starfire's starbolts and made them into a flaming ball of energy that he soon threw back at the redhead. She tried to stop it, but was overpowered and let out a yell as she was thrown to the ground.

He turned his attention away from the battle below him and grabbed his bostaff. This wasn't a good sign; Slade had always been able to take them down, but most of those were tests to see where the Titans were at both physically and mentally. This time it seemed like Slade was playing for keeps.

They circled each other along the gears of the clock before Slade's own bostaff caught on fire and he attacked. Robin grunted each time he blocked and dodged Slade's flaming weapon but eventually his own staff was chopped in half, burned though by what could only be described as hellfire. "Trust me Robin, you don't want to play with fire." Slade stated mockingly.

A burst of flames hit Robin head on before he was knocked twenty feet away and hit the ground hard.

"It's really been nice seeing all of you again." was the last thing Robin heard before passing out.

Raven stood over Cyborg's unconscious form. "I just want this day to end" she said to her unresponsive friend. So focused on Cyborg she didn't hear Slade's approach until he appeared behind her.

"We both know this day is far from over." he stated. Raven found herself cowering, she recognized the mark on his forehead and she was unable to respond.

"Hello birthday girl, ready for your present?" he asked. Raven swore that if she could see beneath that asshole's mask that he would be smirking. She began to channel dark energy into her hands and her trademark Raven claw shot forth grabbing Slade and throwing him across the room where he hit the wall.

She chased ready to continue to fight, but Slade was too quick and he grabbed her wrist. Raven struggled but she couldn't escape the vice like grip and it felt like a brand was being shoved against her slender wrist. Slade dropped her to the ground and she sat up slowly. Looking at her wrist pitifully, she gasped at the sight of the Mark of Scathe branded on the inside of her wrist.

"It has begun." Slade mocked.

 _Worst fucking birthday ever._ Raven thought to herself as Slade floated into the air, surrounded by blue lightening. The building they were in began to crumble. She watched as her friends began to escape; making a mental check list in her head as she watched.

 _Starfire: flying out._

 _Beast boy: Transforming and about to run_

 _Cyborg: conscious and now running_

 _Robin:_

She turned quickly, trying to find the Boy Wonder as the building was being torn apart from the inside out. She watched him and thought he was safe as he was running across the factory catwalk. Then the gear fell; as it rolled the catwalk bent and Robin was sliding down the smooth concrete about to get crushed.

"STOP!" she screamed a burst of black energy shooting from her body.

As she landed on her feet and her vision cleared she saw what she had done, the world around her had frozen; Cyborg was frozen mid-run, while Starfire stayed suspended in the air like a model airplane on display, but it was Beastboy who was frozen mid-change-his body half human half cheetah.

When her eyes landed back on Slade she gasped and took a step back. "You may be able to stop time, birthday girl, but you can't stop me." he mocked as his body began to glow and he dropped gracefully to the ground. "I have to say, Raven. When I found out the truth I was very impressed. All this time I had no idea; the power that lurks inside you, the glorious day when you destroy everything" he paused resting his hand on his chin. "It's always the quiet ones, isn't it?"

Raven's head began to pound, all of her emotions were going haywire. The words Slade was saying, just solidified what was really happening. This was her birthday, her destiny was about to begin. She did the only thing that she knew she could do, run. Her thoughts were jumbled and her emotions chaotic; she couldn't use her powers.

Slade followed. "Did you really think you could just blow out the candles and wish it all away? Today is the day it begins."

She froze when she hit a dead end and turned towards Slade, her violet eyes wide with fear as she watched him cautiously like the trapped bird that she was. He leaned in closer so that his face was just inches away from hers. "It is going to happen; and no matter what you wish, no matter where you go. There is nothing you can do to stop it."


	3. Chapter 3

"Raven, what's happening? How did you stop time?" Robin demanded as he found his footing after Raven had transported them into the streets of Jump City.

"I…I don't know." she replied looking at the mark of Scath burned into her wrist, the sleeve of her uniform torn. The burn was already beginning to blister and Raven knew that no amount of healing would make this scar go away. Just like the prophecy and her birthday.

"What's going on?" Robin asked as he closed the gap of space between them. Typically Robin's closeness would have sent her emotions into haywire, but this time she welcomed the almost contact. She was scared; despite her insistence that she didn't _do fear_ , this was something completely different and she wanted Robin next to her. She craved the reassurance.

"It's my birthday."

It seemed like Slade was determined to destroy any feeling of ease that she had. The villain seemed to appear out of nowhere. Robin jumped in front of her. "Raven, run!" he demanded and Raven fled.

She landed on top of a building close by, as she watched the scene play out below her. Robin attacking Slade again and again; each time Slade recovering as if he was never touched.

Raven knew what had happened to Slade as she watched. Slade was evil and evil went to Hell; Dante was correct about Hell. Those who were murderers and villains went to the seventh circle of hell, the outer most of the three to be more precise. The seventh circle was controlled by her father, Trigon one of Lucifer's nine Lieutenants. Slade met the other murders in history; Alexander the Great (although that was disputed, Raven had never seen him), Dionysius I of Syracuse, Guy de Montfort, the Centaurus. The creatures that humans believed to be fiction were real. The level was full of hell fire and smelled of sulfur, a river of blood of the victims cut between what little obsidian ground there was. She'd been there, she knew.

The sound of an explosion and Robin's yell of pain caused her to leave her hiding place and run to his aid.

The concrete road burned with hell's fire and Slade appeared from the flames. "I have a message."

Raven tried again and again to stop him with her dark powers, but he just broke through them with the immortal strength her father had granted him. "Skies will burn, flesh will become stone. The sun will set on your world, never to rise again."

"How was Hell, Slade?" Raven demanded.

He didn't respond instead he vanished. She turned around quickly trying to cover all of her blind spots. "Did you make some new friends? Meet the villains and murderers who inspired you to become what you are today?" she demanded.

Slade grabbed her from behind, forcing her to look into his eyes. Raven saw what was behind the mask the face of a skull his eyes burning with the flames of the damned. She felt his skin burning through the gloves he wore that covered fleshless hands. She cried out in pain as the world around her began to grow dark with the forced vision. She managed to squirm away and stumbled to the ground.

"You can't run away from who you are."

She turned towards him, eyes glowing white as she tried desperately to control her inner demon that was longing to be unleashed, "I can try." she stated as she channelled her powers and locked Slade in a coffin of concrete.

She ran screaming Robin's name as she moved piles of ruble with her powers. A slab of concrete fell to the ground as she heard Robin groan in pain, a quick analysis of his body and she knew that there were broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder and an ankle with at least once fractured bone. There was no time to heal him, she grabbed his shoulders yanking him to his feet as she half dragged him to the only sanctuary she could think of; the church.

She bit her lip to hide the burning pain of light from heaven that engulfed her body as she walked through the doors of the church. She'd never been inside one before, afraid that she would be expelled like the demon she was. It seemed as if her human half allowed her to step on hallowed ground.

Robin collapsed in front of the alter and she dropped to her knees, holding him against her as she caressed his face unaware of the skin to skin contact. "I shouldn't have dragged you into this, any of you. But you need to know; the story of my birth." She relayed the story to him; her mother raped by Trigon, how the monks of Azrath gazed into her future and how she had inadvertently destroyed her only home.

Robin began to ask questions, before she could answer the doors of the church were thrown open. She turned in terror, just because Slade couldn't step foot in the church didn't mean that the flames of Hell could not. Flames flew towards the two Titans hurling the two birds apart. She heard Robin hit the pews and in order to protect her unconscious leader she fled.

Slade gave chase, both of them flying through the city hurling their weapons against one another. Finally Slade caught her and the two plummeted to the ground. Her head throbbing and her collar bone broken with road rash covering her body she stumbled to her feet attempting to run, Slade grabbed her by the hood of her cape and the collar of her leotard ripping the fabric from her back to reveal not only the brands and seals she had carved herself, also the glowing marks of the incantations to force the gates to Hell to open.

He yanked her to her feet, holding her petite body against his; the vision was forced upon her. She screamed out as the passage of time seemed to fly by and her hair grew longer. She fell to her knees in the vision forced to look upon the demolished city and her friends frozen in stone. All of her senses were engulfed by the vision; sight, smell, taste. To her terror she felt her inner demon leave her body to rest in the hands of her father as he caressed her lovingly.

Slade still held her in his arms, reciting what she was destined to do. Raven fought against his vice like grip "This is a vision it isn't real. The future isn't set in stone."

"This one is" his masked face whispered into her ear. "This will pass, I will make sure of it. You're going to destroy the world, Raven. This I promise you." He held her on the edge of the building.

Slade didn't have power over visions, but she did. She broke through the illusion and with her powers brought them back to the present and expelled the spell she had cast on the world. Time no longer standing still, she was half conscious of the world beginning to awaken below her. Citizens of Jump City unaware of the battle that had just taken place as they slept in a timeless slumber.

She lost consciousness.

A few moments later she woke in Robin's arms. She groaned as she looked at him. He gave her the most reassuring smile he could. "Let's go home."

Safe in her leader's grasp she passed out once again and he carried her back to the Titan's tower.


	4. Chapter 4

Raven's amethyst eyes flutter open and she sits up quickly with a gasp, checking her surroundings and with a sigh fell back against the welcoming sheets of her bed. She does a quick mental check of her body; everything still worked although she did have a hell of a headache. The sight of the mark of Scathye that burned and blistered on her wrist served as a reminder that the events that happened were not a terrible dream but instead a prophecy that would soon be fulfilled.

There was a knock on the door. "Raven?" it was Robin. _Of course he is_ here. She paused unsure if she should allow him to enter the sanctuary of her bedroom. _I owe him this much._ She could've sworn that she head his snicker behind the door.

 _"_ Come in." she managed to croak out.

Robin walked into the bedroom on a pair of crutches with a reassuring smile on his face. "I'm glad you're awake. It's been a couple of days." Robin replied

She looks at him with wide eyes as he hobbles his way into the room and sits on the edge of her bed. Placing the crutches aside, he brushes a lock of dark hair behind her ear causing Raven to realize that it was still long. She blushes at the contact. "You're still hurt." she manages to point out, attempting to drown out the way that Love swooned in her head and Logic once again 'face palmed'

"Well the family doctor was a bit preoccupied." Robin teased as he tried to lighten the mood.

"Let me-" she began, only to be stopped by Robin's hand on her shoulder. Trying not to jump at the contact, she realized that she was still in her torn up uniform from the battle before. His touch caused her to wince, not from the pain of the battle but from the way that her heart clenched. To her relief Robin took it as the former pain and removed his hand.

"Cyborg patched me up. Obviously, you are my first choice when it comes to doctors. Don't worry I can hobble around until you can heal me properly." he explained.

Raven nodded. "Are the others okay?"

"They are fine and worried about you. They don't remember anything, except that Slade is back. This prophecy…it's not set in stone…you told me that the future isn't always set in stone."

"I'm glad that they are okay." Raven admitted, deciding not to tell Robin that Slade was determined to make this prophecy to come true. And she believed it.

Robin smiled and took her hand in his. She was too tired to protest, although a few books from her bookshelf did tumble to the ground. "We will figure this out." he spoke, Raven could imagine his blue eyes hardening beneath his mask; those eyes that she missed staring into so much.

"Get some rest, Raven" he said gently.

She nodded sleepily and allowed her eyes to flutter shut, wondering if it was her imagination that Robin caressed her cheek.

"How is friend, Raven?" Starfire asked as soon as Robin had closed the door to see all three of his remaining teammates eagerly waiting outside.

"Is she alright?" Beastboy inquired.

"She is fine. Just tired" Robin stated.

"Can the rest of us go see her?" Cyborg asked.

"She's asleep now, but she will wake up in a couple of hours. She is healing herself now." Robin explained.

"She has been asleep for two days now, are you sure that she is healing herself?" Starfire said softly.

"Star, some wounds aren't just physical." Cyborg said just as softly.

"Well. She wouldn't want us standing outside of her door worrying." Beastboy stretched.

"You're right. I'll go make us something to eat." Cyborg replied.

"Dude, no meat!" Beastboy cried out as he followed Cyborg down the hall.

Robin caught Starfire's arm before she could walk away. He noticed the slight glimmer of hope that flashed through her eyes and Robin blushed slightly, before dropping her arm quickly.

"What is it, Robin?"

"I need you to do something for me."

"Anything." Starfire instantly replies.

Robin rubs the back of his head awkwardly. He didn't know how to approach something so serious and so violating for a woman. His mind went to the worst when he saw Raven in her tattered uniform. Slade dropping her so carelessly. "I…I…" he stutters unable to get the thought, the request, the word to escape his lips.

"Robin?" Starfire asks again, trying to help him continue.

"I need you to ask Raven something." he stalls, still trying to figure out how to ask about such a sinister act.

The glimmer of hope left Starfire's eyes, but she quickly nods; her affection for Raven quickly covering any type of disappointment. "What is it?"

"You saw Raven's uniform when I brought her in. Slade is the one who tore it. I am worried that something happened." he tries to describe the word that he was trying so hard to avoid.

To his relief, this was something that Starfire's naivety to the Earthling language seemed to be able to pick up.

"You want me to ask her if she was violated. Sexually." She spoke, hesitantly adding the word _sexually_ at the end.

"Yes. I am afraid to ask her myself…sometimes it takes a woman to help another woman with things like that. At least that's what I have been told."

"Robin you are completely correct," she places a hand on his shoulder. "I will make the inquiry when she once again awakes."

A few hours later, Starfire knocked on Raven's door. "Come in." Raven replied.

Starfire floated into Raven's bedroom to see her teammate in a baggy long sleeved shirt that said " _Ravenclaw Quidditch Team"_ and a pair of black shorts, a towel was wrapped around her head, an indication of the shower that Raven had taken.

"Friend Raven, How are you feeling?" Starfire inquires.

"I'm feeling better. Just tired. Trying to find my stupid scissors, I don't know how you stand having this much hair" Raven replies as she turns towards her friend.

Starfire takes a few deep breathes, trying to figure out the best way to approach the situation. On Tameron, men like this would be killed in the most inhumane and terrible way. She was apprehensive, she had never had a talk of this nature with someone before. "Friend Raven, can we please sit on the bed and have the talking of girls?"

Raven must've felt her emotions because she removed the towel from her hair, setting it on the dresser before sitting next to Starfire on the bed.

Starfire took Raven's hand in hers; ignoring that Raven tries to pull away, Starfire just tightens her alien grip slightly; she heard the sound of something big falling into the ocean outside.

"My dear friend. When you returned from the battle against Slade, we were all so worried."

"I'm fine, Star. Just a bit beat up."

"Your uniform. It was torn up." Starfire said slowly.

"Slade ripped it while we were fighting." Raven replies.

"And after he ripped it…" Starfire trailed off.

Raven narrowed her eyes, puzzled.

Starfire takes a deep breath, finding herself frustrated with Raven for not being able to figure out the overly vague and terrible approach that she was using to ask if Slade had raped her.

"Raven, did Slade…Did he do things to you?" Starfire tried again.

Raven seemed to finally understand. "No."

"Are you sure, my dear friend?"

"I am sure. He ripped my uniform during the fight."

"Raven. I am sorry that this has happened to you, but I am, in a way relieved." Starfire struggled trying to find the right words to say how relieved that her best friend was not raped, but also to maintain her sympathy.

"Starfire, I am fine. Just a little beat up."

"If you would like to do the talking?"

"No." Raven deadpanned.

Starfire turns to float out the door. She was both upset and hurt that Raven was pushing her away. When the door slid open she heard Raven sigh.

"Wait."

Starfire turns to her friend hopefully; puzzled when she saw Raven holding a pair of scissors. "Will you help me cut my hair?"

Starfire felt elated and dismayed. "You are cutting your hair?"

"I can't stand having this much hair. I need your help cutting it, especially the back."

"Please may I leave it a bit longer?" she took the scissors from Raven

"Not happening."


	5. Chapter 5

The darkness of his bedroom chokes the Boy Wonder as he fumbles for the light on his night stand. The light both blinds and relieves him as it shoves the shadows back into their corners. He used to think of shadows as a safety blanket, something that his mentor had taught him long ago to use to his advantage. People were afraid of the dark. Robin didn't fear that dark, until now.

Raven made him fear the dark once more.

His mysterious teammate wasn't sleeping. It was safe to assume that she hadn't slept in the week since she had awoken from her confrontation with Slade. When Raven didn't meet her basic needs, she lost control. When Raven lost control, even the slightest bit, things happened. With their bond, Robin was always knew.

These nightmares weren't just affecting Raven anymore, they were affecting him as well. This would be his third night without sleep.

Raven's hesitant knock on his door doesn't surprise him. He crosses the room.

She looks terrible; pale skin borderline translucent, circles beneath her eyes so prominent that they resemble bruises, tangled hair yanked back into a half ponytail. Her unusual eyes were rimmed in red; making her look even more demonic. "I'm sorry." she says softly.

Robin leans heavily against his door frame. "I know." he replies. Raven had come the two previous nights to apologize for what had happened. They both knew that the reason he was experiencing such vivid and terrifying nightmares was because of the bond that they shared.

"I just. I wanted you to. I am sorry." Raven stutters.

Raven almost never stuttered, she was the most articulate and direct person that Robin knew. Her thoughts were almost always together. She was scared.

Robin finds himself reaching out towards his dark haired companion, she flenches away just out of reach. He drops his hand "I know."

She turns, disappearing into the shadows that Robin now fears. He lets his door slide to a close.

* * *

She fucked up. This wasn't supposed to happen. The Teen Titans were not supposed to be bested by a couple of trigger happy punks in ski masks, and yet they almost were because Raven's powers weren't working properly.

They were speeding in the T-Car down the road towards the Titans Tower. Next to her was Robin with Starfire in his arms. The beautiful alien had been shot in the shoulder because Raven hadn't been able to create the shield like they had planned, like they had practiced, like they had preformed perfectly a thousand times before.

 _Way to fuck up royally_. Guilt repeats over and over again.

"Dude, Raven. Just heal her already!" Beast Boy cries.

"What's taking so long?" Cyborg calls over his shoulder.

"Raven!" Robin yells.

Starfire let out a moan in pain.

"I can't!" Raven screams. The T-Car rises five feet in the air before it drops back onto the road. The windows shatter around them and Cyborg slams on the brakes skidding the vehicle to a halt.

Raven struggles with her seat belt before she half falls out of the car, staggering drunkenly away from her friends.

Robin is behind her in an instant. "What happened? What's going on?"

Raven doesn't respond, she looks at her team helplessly and runs.

She hears Robin give orders to her teammates over her shoulder followed by the sound of his heavy foot steps giving chase.

She wills her powers to work, but nothing happens. "Come on!" she begs as she pushes herself to keep running, Robin's footsteps are getting louder.

"Azrath metrion zinthos," she chants as she wills herself to fly. She feels herself begin to levitate off the ground; two feet, five feet, ten feet.

"Raven!" Robin calls her name as he comes to a stop beneath her.

She looses concentration and falls to the ground, landing hard on her left side. Robin is beside her in an instant, as he helps her into a sitting position he grabs her shoulders tightly.

"What is going on?" He demands. His grip is painfully tight and Raven can feel his fingers shake from the strain. He is furious, scared, and just as exhausted as she is. She can feel the tired feeling bleed from him like an open wound. _Wow. You're just fucking your entire team up, aren't you?_ Guilt pointed out.

She couldn't look at him.

His gloved hand gently grabs her chin and forces her to look at him. "We have a bond. And now that bond is- it's doing things. Raven the things that you have seen." his voice cracks as he thought about a particular memory/dream that he had witnessed. All the children, the smoke, the screams. "I've seen them too. I know you. I know that these are affecting you in the worse way possible. And now you keep having these nightmares about the vision that Slade showed haven't slept in a week, and today the team paid for it."

She could feel tears well up in her eyes. She was causing more harm than good. It was like the warning that she gave him when they first met; _If you knew the real me. You wouldn't want me around_.

"Raven. Let me help you. Remember when you lost your powers because of your fear?"

Raven nods "This is nothing like that." she manages to squeak as she swallows a lump in her throat.

"You can't use your powers. Starfire was shot! Let me help you." he yells as he looses his temper shaking her roughly.

Tears drip from her eyes and a lamp post tips over. They both jump at the sound of the lamp crashing to the ground, but Robin pulls her into his arms. She welcomes the contact and hugs her leader back tightly as she cries.

She can feel him shaking as he sobs too. Sobs for himself, his teammates, and his own loss of control.

Through her closed eyes she sees the memory that she locked in Robin's mind slip out of its metaphorical box. In her powerless state, she knows that Robin will experience what can only be described as a flashback, she hopes that this memory won't give too much away.

It's a memory of the two of them in the living room of the Titans Tower, he has just yanked her towards him so that her forehead rests against his.

 _"You can control it" he whispers._

 _Raven doesn't respond, her eyes were clench shut trying to control her powers_

 _"You won't hurt me."_

 _"What makes you so sure?"_

 _"Because I know you_.

The memory ends, it was so similar to the position that they were in now, the conversation that they were having now. She could feel his arms around her tighten and she winces. This wasn't a memory of physical love, it was a memory of mental love. The kind that you have when you think about your first love. The one Raven felt when she remembers week she spent with Malchior. The ones that she knew Robin felt for his dead family, Batman, and Batgirl.

However, she could also feel her own troubled emotions beginning to relax. She loved Robin's embrace. Inside her head; she could hear the screams, cries and protests of her Inner Ravens begin to die down.

 _"This is stupid" Logic points out._

 _"Destroy him." her Inner Demon hisses._ As the day of her birth grew closer, her inner demon was beginning to grow more powerful.

 _"He feels so warm." Love sighed._

Raven was beginning to regain control once again as she mentally shoved her emotions to the side. She took a deep breath, inhaling Robin's scent one last time before pulling away. Robin's release was slow, his hands sliding down her arms and cupping her own hands for a second before he too pulls away.

"Thanks." they both mutter awkwardly.

"Where are the others?" Raven inquires as they both got to their feet.

"At the Tower." Robin replies.

"Starfire?"

"I'm not sure."

Raven creates a portal. "Come on." She could sense Robin's hesitation. She didn't blame him.

 _"Good. He still fears you."_ her Inner Demon says.

"It's okay." Raven reassures him.

Robin follows behind her as they reappear back in the Titans Tower.

"Where's Starfire?" Robin asks.

"She's fine. In her room sleeping it off. The bullet entered her arm, took a chunk out, then exited. Overall, a very clean shot and just a couple of stitches." Cyborg replies.

Raven felt Relief jumped for joy inside her head.

"I'm glad to hear it." Robin spoke for both of them.

"Yo Rae, you got your powers back?" Beast Boy asks.

Raven nods.

"You haven't been sleeping much, have you?" It's not a question coming from Cyborg. He had the entire tower wired, she knew that he watched all the footage of the Tower and had seen Raven wandering the halls at night.

Raven blushes beneath her hood and nods again.

"Then go to bed, dude." Beast Boy states.

"It's two o' clock in the afternoon." Raven points out.

"I know for a fact that your room is dark as hell." Cyborg replies.

"But what if"

Robin cuts her off and places a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. We can handle it."

Raven sighs before flashing a ghost of a smile in the direction of her three teammates. She walks down the hallway towards her bedroom and stops before Starfire's door. She hesitates. Should she go in? She is the reason that Starfire was hurt.

She knocks on the door.

"Come in." Starfire's voice responds.

Raven slowly opens the door and stops in the doorway.

"Friend, Raven!" Starfire exclaims as she floats over to her, a hairbrush in her hand.

"I am sorry, Starfire." Raven blurts out.

"I am not mad, my friend. Your powers are complex and I understand that."

"You got hurt." Raven gestures to the bandage around her friend's arm.

"It is not as bad as it appears. Cyborg did a glorious job fixing the wound."

"It's my fault you got hurt."

"Friend Raven. You have gotten the injuries when I have made the mistakes in battle as well. That is a part of being a team." Starfire explains in an almost sage-like wisdom.

Raven is taken aback by Starfire's explanation. Relief soon floods over her body and she gives Starfire one of her rare, genuine smiles. "I am glad that you forgive me."

"There is not a thing to forgive. Back on my planet, scars are a sign of a true warrior. Now please, go take care of yourself. Your powers are not in the control right now."

It seemed like Cyborg had already filled the rest of the team in on Raven's predicament and for once she was not angry at Cyborg for butting into her business. Instead she waves to Starfire and floats out the door to her bedroom. Her bed welcomes her like and embrace and she falls asleep before her head hits the pillow.

* * *

This time, Raven's troubled mind did not wake up the Boy Wonder. He was still awake despite the late hour, after Raven's break down he was determined to find Slade. There had been no sign of him yet, but Robin was like a terrier, he would grab onto something and not let go until he got what he wanted.

Raven must know that he is awake because she does not come knocking at his door to apologize, instead the tower remains silent.

After a few more moments of contemplation, Robin stands from his desk and walks to Raven's bedroom door.

He knocks lightly, "Raven?"

The door is engulfed in black magic, to Robin's surprise it slides open for him. He steps into the doorway to see Raven sitting on the edge of her bed. He goes to her.

"Bad dream?" he asks.

She lets out a sarcastic chuckle. "At least I got some sleep."

He wraps an arm around her slender shoulders, noting the way that a candelabra tips over. "Not enough." he says as he sits down beside her, pulling her body against his.

"Better than nothing."

Robin chuckled bitterly and looks around her bedroom. He notices that the face of her clock is broken and the hour hand is stuck at 6, despite it being midnight. "What happened to your clock?"

Raven sighs. "Time isn't exactly on my side right now."

Robin squeezes her shoulders a bit tighter. "Well, do you want a cup of tea?" he asks, as he tries to get both of their minds off of Slade.

She looks up at him and smiles softly, "That sounds nice." she replies.

"Besides, I'll be your Romanian is beyond rusty" Robin teases in Romanian as he stands and offers her his hand.

"Not even a little bit" She replies in Romanian accepting his hand as he pulls her to her feet. Instead of dropping her hand, he keeps it cupped in his as he leads her out of her bedroom.


End file.
